good conditioning feed for a poor 2 year old?

[Capriole]

recommendations please, for good conditioning feeds.

new 2 yr old colt is approximately 15.0 Hh and 350Kg (ISH x anglo arab). he's been wormed etc., and is coming on ok, but id like to get some meat on his bones without overdoing him.

its 20 years since i last had a youngster and feeds have changed so much, so am hoping some of you have more up to date experiences

 

[Baggybreeches]

Grass! Seriously though a two year old does not need meat on its bones unless it is emaciated, please dont fall into the trap of trying to 'feed' it into show condition.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Dodson & Horrell Suregrow seems popular in our shop, I use Baileys Stud Balancer. I woudl suggest you weigh him using a weigh tape, then ring a couple of the feed companies advice lines.

 

[YellowBoots]

Lots of good hay will help, or add a scoop of beet pulp to his feeds.

 

[Shilasdair]

I'd give a low nutrient coarse mix...for hacking and light work....and half a scoop of speedibeet, perhaps with a vit/min supplement just to make sure he's not deficient going into the winter.
And ad lib good quality hay/lage (if you can get it this year!)
S

 

[Cop-Pop]

I used Dodson and Horrell mare and youngstock mix and baileys economy nuts on my mare when she was 2. They don't need much though - my mare was a rescue and really needed a lot of condition but as she was on good pasture and hay I wanted to keep the hard feed to a minimum to prevent her becoming excitable (shes a TBx). She also had equivite original in her feed and a special supplement from the vet for bone growth.

 

[Capriole]

[ QUOTE ]
Grass! Seriously though a two year old does not need meat on its bones unless it is emaciated, please dont fall into the trap of trying to 'feed' it into show condition.

[/ QUOTE ]

actually, yes, not far off. very poor, been neglected somewhat

 

[eventrider23]

Bailey's Stud Balancer! You don't need to feed much of it at all and it makes sure they get all the correct nutrients, etc. that they need without being to heating of causing excess weight gain. My 2 yr old has been on it since a weanling and has grown beautifully!! He only gets a cup a day at the moment and when living in in leter winter will only be having one cup twice a day with some Hifi and good hay/grass.

 

[Capriole]

vet told me his weight.
didnt want to ring advice lines until i get some feedback about brands, as they all try to sell you their own stuff, whether or not its best on the market

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
as they all try to sell you their own stuff

[/ QUOTE ]
Of course they will - it's their job. But it's also their job to give you their best advice based on their products.

I have found three companies in particular to be very good. It's up to you then to make a decision based on the information you get.

I for one though would second the Stud Balancer from Baileys.

 

[Baggybreeches]

In that case be very careful to build it up very slowly, I have seen more damage done by trying get too much too soon, theyare pretty resilient and will pick up eventually.

 

[Maesfen]

I was in a similar situation in the summer; I took on a very poor (SN will tell you how bad she was, you could feel every vertebrae and bone on her!) yearling TB filly. I started her off with Bailey's Economy MIx, Barley Rings, Stud cubes, sugar beet and Blue Chip with as much haylage/hay she could eat; she had daily turnout but the fields were terrible owing to the bad weather. The wet weather had also brought her down and she had a fair dose of rainscald too. That feed sounds a bit of a mish-mash but was all there for a reason. The eco mix as a good clean base, soaked barley rings, great for weight gain and coat shine, again, stud cubes as they are good for weight gain, they also are formulated for youngsters; Blue Chip as it has everything in she could possibly have needed and keeps the gut right and sugar beet for added fibre. She had three feeds a day so wasn't overloaded at any time and I had a job to keep up with her haylage intake, two huge nets each night (I could only carry one at a time!) with only wisps left in the morning plus some in the morning before turnout.
This was her then -

and later

Haven't taken any pic's lately but she is a reasonable weight for her age and size, she is nicely covered without being fat, I can still feel her ribs but can't really see them if that makes sense. Years ago when I took on another rescue case, the vet told me never to overload protein, keep things simple and don't rush to give them a bucketful as they can only use so much food at a time, they will improve but you must give them time.
Now she is on a normal diet of eco mix, barley rings (until they run out!) Bailey's Stud Balancer (which does the same as BC at a fraction of the price, you just feed a bit more of it!) sugar beet and Alfa A Oil; she still polishes off huge amounts of haylage!

Good luck with your lad, don't be in too much hurry to get the weight on him but it will come with the right foods, exercise and turnout. Be ready for a change in character when he feels better too! Can we have pictures?

 

[kirsti]

Hi, i use speedibeet on my arab, he cannot be fed any type of mix as he is too hot headed, he just has hi-fi and pony nuts but can eat as much speedibeet as he likes as it is not heating but very good at keep weight on.
hope that helps.
kirsti

 

[eventrider23]

TBH I have found the Bailey's advice lines to be veryt honest and helpful. A friend of mine has a 5 month old rapidly growing WB x ISH foal; she rang up the Bailey's advice line to see what their reccomendations were for feeding him and, bearing in mind it is in their interest to sell the feed, that she shouldn't have him on any hard feed at all due to the fact that WB foals tend to grow so quickly. Their view was that as long as mum is healthy he should be able to get everything he needed off of her. They said that if she was worried about him to possibly give him a bit of foal assist (a vit supplement) but nothing other than that. He is now ready for weaning and has only recently started eating a small bit of stud balancer twice a day just to ensure he is getting the correct vits and mins.

 

[Scarlett]

Dodson and Horrell Suregrow - I use it on my older horses as a balancer and it works a treat but its actually meant for youngstock.